A Few Words About A few words about...™The Apartment -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[KPmusmag]

On another subject - perhaps this has been addressed elsewhere.

Surely someone else has noticed that after the main titles, the establishing shot of Manhattan is reversed. Looking at the U.N. from the East River, the Assembly Hall should be to the right of the Secretariat Building.

Was B.W. trying to say that "The Apartment" takes place in an "alternate" NYC?

Or did an editing mistake re-arrange the most famous skyline in the world?

 

[Robin9]

As someone new to Arrow, they had a blank slate and a chance to make any kind of impression. The impression I got was, "If you order our product, you probably won't get it, and we won't respond either." That's an extra frustration I don't need in a hobby that's supposed to be fun.

I'm sorry but your conclusion is refuted by Post 213 from Ahab.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

On another subject - perhaps this has been addressed elsewhere.

Surely someone else has noticed that after the main titles, the establishing shot of Manhattan is reversed. Looking at the U.N. from the East River, the Assembly Hall should be to the right of the Secretariat Building.

Was B.W. trying to say that "The Apartment" takes place in an "alternate" NYC?

Or did an editing mistake re-arrange the most famous skyline in the world?

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View attachment 42885

I'd guess it was just a goof.

It's possible BW intentionally reversed the shot as a subliminal indication of a "skewed" tone, but since the movie seems to want realism in most other ways, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me...

 

[AlexNH]

I still think something has gone wrong here. I would love to believe that suddenly classic films on blu-ray are a red hot item and people snapped up 3000 copies of a black and white Billy Wilder film prior to release day...a total sell-out so fast that hundreds of orders were canceled and retailers never even got stock...but really name the last time that happened.

Plus this is the second time this film has been released on blu-ray, history says even fewer people buy just to get a better looking transfer. Personally, I think it is highly unlikely this film sold 3000 copies prior to release. NO WAY!

I say somebody will need to prove that.

Where have all these lovers of classic cinema that could not wait to get their hands on special blu-ray editions been hiding until this release was announced?

I want to believe that all of a sudden thousands of people suddenly turned a corner and thought "This Billy Wilder guy was kind of brilliant, I have to have The Apartment on blu-ray!"...but really I am thinking there was some sort of distribution error/delay that has caused retailers to be unable to fulfill orders and Arrow went on vacation leaving them with no timetable or explanation so...rather than sit around with nothing to say Amazon and others just canceled the orders or left them on backorder.

I obviously could be wrong but if I am and they sold over 3000 copies of The Apartment prior to release day...well...things are seriously looking up for classic film on blu-ray.

I hope you're right but didn't the Creepshow 2 limited edition sell out the same way?

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I hope you're right but didn't the Creepshow 2 limited edition sell out the same way?

I think horror films do have more of a track record of quickly selling out, black and white classic films...not so much. Hey, I certainly could be wrong but I guess we will see.

 

[PMF]

Perhaps Mr. Sheldrake has never retired. Perhaps he is behind all this.

 

[PMF]

Oh, BTW, Happy New Year's to C.C. and Fran.

 

[AlexNH]

According to Arrow this morning, 6,000 copies 3k for USA and 3K for UK have sold out. Unbelievable. They really underestimated the demand on this. I wrote to them and asked that they learn from this experience and was basically told to go F off. Arrow is sad.

 

[Mark VH]

According to Arrow this morning, 6,000 copies 3k for USA and 3K for UK have sold out. Unbelievable. They really underestimated the demand on this. I wrote to them and asked that they learn from this experience and was basically told to go F off. Arrow is sad.

So nothing about a possible future non-limited version? If they have indeed sold out, then I have to think this will be coming sooner v. later.

 

[TravisR]

So nothing about a possible future non-limited version? If they have indeed sold out, then I have to think this will be coming sooner v. later.

I agree unless it's similar to Twilight Time where their license was only for X number of copies. However, it seems odd that they would have spent the money on a new 4K transfer if it was never going to released again so I remain hopeful for a non-LE release.

 

[Mark VH]

I agree unless it's similar to Twilight Time where their license was only for X number of copies. However, it seems odd that they would have spent the money on a new 4K transfer if it was never going to released again so I remain hopeful for a non-LE release.

The packaging very much seems designed so that the standard Blu-ray case can/will be broken out as a separate release without the box/book. Just speculation, of course, but that's my hunch. I also find it hard to believe that they'd license and go through the trouble of restoring such a high-profile title and limit their sales potential to only 6,000 copies. Doesn't make sense.

 

[Ferdinand Hudson]

Given the quick sell-out of the LE I would guess they might bring out the standard release sooner than expected.

 

[AlexNH]

This is what I received from Arrow: "As a limited edition product, we can't keep printing further copies. We are looking to see if there's further stock available though so there may be more copies available at a future date. It was 3000 in each territory. AV"

 

[Mike Frezon]

So it's true. 6,000 copies of The Apartment sold out quickly during pre-order.

Wow.

 

[willyTass]

well then , no need to delay the UHD release

 

[Mike Frezon]

I still think something has gone wrong here. I would love to believe that suddenly classic films on blu-ray are a red hot item and people snapped up 3000 copies of a black and white Billy Wilder film prior to release day...a total sell-out so fast that hundreds of orders were canceled and retailers never even got stock...but really name the last time that happened.

Plus this is the second time this film has been released on blu-ray, history says even fewer people buy just to get a better looking transfer. Personally, I think it is highly unlikely this film sold 3000 copies prior to release. NO WAY!

I say somebody will need to prove that.

Where have all these lovers of classic cinema that could not wait to get their hands on special blu-ray editions been hiding until this release was announced?

I want to believe that all of a sudden thousands of people suddenly turned a corner and thought "This Billy Wilder guy was kind of brilliant, I have to have The Apartment on blu-ray!"...but really I am thinking there was some sort of distribution error/delay that has caused retailers to be unable to fulfill orders and Arrow went on vacation leaving them with no timetable or explanation so...rather than sit around with nothing to say Amazon and others just canceled the orders or left them on backorder.

I obviously could be wrong but if I am and they sold over 3000 copies of The Apartment prior to release day...well...things are seriously looking up for classic film on blu-ray.

Reggie: I was with you on this post all the way. This is really an amazing turn of events.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Reggie: I was with you on this post all the way. This is really an amazing turn of events.

Yes, it is and I have to say I will pop open a bottle of champagne when I get home tonight and toast Billy Wilder and Arrow and what would appear to be solid proof that not only are there more than 3000 fans of classic film out there but more than 6000 that still want to collect these films on blu-ray!

Everybody keeps saying this format is dead, discs are dead...really, I say...what about The Apartment?

Although I know people are upset and aggravated I think there is a major upside to this. There are apparently quite a number of people that still know who Billy Wilder is, that love classic films, and that want them on blu-ray which means it is profitable to release these things.

Somebody should show this to Paramount!

 

[Mark VH]

Honestly, as somebody who earns a living as a PR professional, I have to say that how Arrow is handling this from a PR perspective is really terrible. They're responding to everyone who inquires about the sell-out on social media with a canned response (we're looking for additional stock, you can always import from the UK, etc.), when what this really calls for is 1) an official statement explaining exactly what happened along with 2) an apology re: their failure to anticipate the demand and 3) a definitive word one way or the other on plans to issue a standard release. Frankly, they should have had somebody on point responding to this over the holidays (it's insane that they waited this long, whether they were in the office or not, as I'm sure they were aware of the issue early), but this is so little, so late that it reflects really terribly on them and their views toward their customers.

I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this, but there's no way anyone can conclude that they handled the situation well. Textbook "what not to do" in the PR world.

 

[TravisR]

Yes, it is and I have to say I will pop open a bottle of champagne when I get home tonight and toast Billy Wilder and Arrow and what would appear to be solid proof that not only are there more than 3000 fans of classic film out there but more than 6000 that still want to collect these films on blu-ray!

Everybody keeps saying this format is dead, discs are dead...really, I say...what about The Apartment?

Although I know people are upset and aggravated I think there is a major upside to this. There are apparently quite a number of people that still know who Billy Wilder is, that love classic films, and that want them on blu-ray which means it is profitable to release these things.

Somebody should show this to Paramount!

I think Amazon's $22.99 price on a $50 MSRP is why this went went crazy. People love a deal. If the price had been $30 or $35, there'd be no problem in getting this right now or three months from now.

 

[Ferdinand Hudson]

I think Amazon's $22.99 price on a $50 MSRP is why this went went crazy. People love a deal. If the price had been $30 or $35, there'd be no problem in getting this right now or three months from now.

Deal or no deal, Amazon keeps on taking on orders way past their allotment as if they think... "Hey, we'll just order more!"
This isn't the first time Amazon pulls something like this and it surely won't be the last.